Technically the pictures do use data, but since your plan includes picture messaging you are not billed for the data used for the pictures only. As far as disabling the updates, depending on the phone there are some options, but to my knowledge there isn't a phone with a be all end all kill switch.

While the pictures need to go through the cell network, if she sends them while connected to wifi that should eliminate any charges for mobile data usage (since those will go through the wifi).

Sending and receiving pictures absolutely require data connection to go through (on HSPA phones) but you don't actually get charged for this. They issue is its pretty tough for her to go through her entire app list and deny every app from using data but that's an option.

I believe the data was accumulated for the automatic updates. I will go into the Google Play Store and choose the "Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only" option on her phone. Hopefully that will do the trick. Thanks all, for the info.

It's not only about Google Play apps. There is mail servers, facebook, weather widgets, news or any other app that requests auto-sync. As said, there is no EASY way to block all the data at once! Many people have already suggested some idea to give like a 5 or 10 free MB for people to stop asking questions about that because it is a problem for many people.

UGH!! The saga continues. My daughters phone went from 17MB this afternoon to 31 MB tonight. Is anyone aware of the "Tweakker" app? It is an app used to automatically set APN settings for a phone, which we downloaded last month. I'm curious if this is the culprit using my daughters data? I deleted "Tweakker" off her phone and entered the following info into "Edit Access Point". She is now sending/receiving photos. She does not need any data. Her phone is only used for texting and the occasional phone call.

Could someone please confirm that this is the correct info? Also, if anyone has info about the "Tweakker" App, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all in advance.

Those apn settings look correct to me, to find out what the culprit is for this data usage, I would suggest going to settings>data usage once you find out which app is using the data, tap on it and scroll to the bottom then check the box for restrict background data. :)

I just picked up on your sentence "Her phone is only used for texting and the occasional phone call."

How occasional is occasional for you? If she texts mostly, you could consider Prepaid for your daughter. For $15 per month she could text and MMS the whole world without having to worry about data (it's truly included).

She could buy a 500 minutes booster for $25 for the occasional call - calls would be $0.05 per minute. Obviously she'd also lose her 5pm/weekend unlimited calling but it's a thought :)

Once you have your prepaid SIM card, you will need to go online to activate it. It will then give you the option to port in your old number, or you can even activate it with a temporary number and port (fancy name for copy across) her old number later.